As the introductory piece, Lollipop Kingdom is a short (almost 3 minute) track that kind of fits the atmosphere of the cover of the album (not the one above but the limited versions). It has a lot of weird things going on and the vocals are a bit all over the place as well as the arrangement giving this chaotic sound overall…it’s just strange and a couple of times we hear Takeru clearly, but it’s mostly focused on it’s wild arrangement.

2. Pastel Horror Yum Yum Show

There has to be a connection between this and later song “Fancy Cake Yum Yum Show”. Anyways continuing on with out circus-y atmosphere, PHYYS is quite dark for SuG but also carries they playful energies quite nicely. I love the strings and brass being included along with the band’s gritty feel to make it pretty unique. I will say there are some parts that are somewhat awkward to listen to…but it’s fixed with its chorus which is pretty cool. Not bad and the instrumental parts with the accordion is creepy!

3. ☆Gimme×Gimme☆

I’m not sure if there was any changes done to the first A-side of the “Lollipop Kingdom” era but the title has slightly changed (it was originally written in katakana but the album has it down in english and with that extra ×. Their A-sides have been mostly straightforward which is a surprise considering some other things but it’s in the past. I like that after the previous tune, they cut back on the wackiness just for a bit and gave us a song like this. I mean I still prefer stuff like “Crazy Bunny Coaster” and all but this was quite strong as an A-side!

4. Toy Soldier

I thought “☆Gimme×Gimme☆” was good, but I thought Toy Soldier was the best A-side from this album. I do love their wacky songs here and there but Toy Soldier was kind of a mix between wacky and just cute for some reason to me. I can forgive Takeru for singing in a more cutesy pitch than normal since it fits this song so well! It’s a fun ass song from them!

5. No! More! War!

Getting into a string of new songs, No! More! War! kicks things off very strangely with that yell that took me out. No! More! War! is very freaky for me for some reason…like it belongs in a different time. It’s like 90’s R&B/Pop (ala Janet Jackson-ish). It’s a very unorthodox style for SuG and not even Takeru could pull seriousness off here…they tried to hard on this one and it kind of annoys me here.

6. crispy.

Moving from that awkward mess into crispy. is pretty freaky not gonna lie. I mean this track is so laidback and relaxing to listen to for some reason and that’s a good sign. Takeru is actually singing quite lightly which gives him a little more depth to his style of vocals. It’s different and I liked that about this song a lot…quite impressive actually…though I could live without the disc scratching parts.

7. Howling Magic

Howling Magic would be the second promotional song for this album, (the other was actually “Pastel Horror Yum Yum Show”, and I MUCH preferred this over the latter. It’s a lot more together of a song and took the strings that worked well already and added to this song. It kind of rides like “☆Gimme×Gimme☆” though it might be me but I hear f-bombs😄. It’s interesting and there’s places where it has a certain circus-y theme but small parts. Not bad of a song.

8. sleazy ARMY blood

sleazy ARMY blood might take the role as the album’s hardest hitting songs because of the guitar chords and the angsty tone Takeru is shooting with his lyrics. Otherwise, I don’t really remember the song beyond the fact it’s heavy and aggressive…some might enjoy this though I have to admit.

9. yellow strider

Going into the album’s interlude, yellow strider is just as heavy and aggressive like “sleazy ARMY blood” but more wild because Takeru does a bit more growling and shouting which would normally turn me off but it was OK since it was short.

10. SWEET COUNT DOWN -Album Ver.-

Even though the entire “Fukanzen Beautyfool Days” single never leaked, the one that did had this song which is good. Now it’s a new version of course but once again if there is any changes to the song, it’s very minor. It is a little clearer which is nice but after a while it felt like it was made pretty quickly because it still feels like it was undermade at places…meh.

11. Kitanai Kotoba

Why am I not surprised the album’s longest song was going to be a ballad? Kitanai Kotoba and it’s 6:20-ness comes after the rather plaid “SWEET COUNT DOWN” which isn’t good news but at least SuG is trying to keep things interesting. They didn’t succeed very well though since it didn’t get any better for me. It’s like they were told to have a ballad somewhere.

12. Fukanzen Beautyfool Days

Their third A-side comes next and I still can’t really stand it very well. I really don’t know why because like “Pastel Horror Yum Yum Show” the strings are great and they give a playfulness that the band couldn’t get with just their instruments. However, that chorus just annoys me to no end for some reason. It’s just Takeru saying the title and I’m already turned off xD.

13. DOKI DOKI TV CREW

I liked the band themselves when I listened to this song because it was quick-paced and the fast notes were pretty good…plus I loved hearing more bass in this song. It’s still kind of weird in that sense because it’s like western but not at the same time. Takeru is having fun too singing all over the place and all lol. Not bad though as well.

14. Fancy Cake Yum Yum Show

Like I said, I’m willing to say that this and the second track are connected somehow but the final song for both Limited editions end with this big band song which is quite something and kind of cute in a way which is great to see. It’s got a nice sound to it and Takeru kept it safe so it wouldn’t be ridiculous. Nice closure!

15. Tokidoki Suteki na Kono Sekai

As the Regular bonus track, Tokidoki Suteki na Kono Sekai kind of reminded me of an idol song at the beginning but quickly becomes a speedy little tune. Takeru’s vocals are kind spotty in places but I’m still kind of WTF at the brass used here since it makes it sound like some AKB track. For being a one-edition track, it kind of doesn’t stand out. I think it would’ve been better somewhere in the middle of the album and not the end since “Fancy Cake Yum Yum Show” did a better job as the closing.

Tracks Recommended

crispy.

Toy Soldier

Fancy Cake Yum Yum Show

Howling Magic

☆Gimme×Gimme☆

Song of Avoidance

No! More! War!

As it’s SuG’s 4th full album, I have to say that I was enjoying this as much as I did with “Thrill Ride Pirates” since a lot of the songs were just merely ok and some of them were just not all that great. I mean the singles were good (cept Fukanzen Beautyfool Days which was bad). Still, there were some good stuff but this album wasn’t as good as their last.